Coal power generation is booming in China and Japan

Japan and China are becoming the drivers of new coal-fired capacity worldwide, even as the US and Europe continue their move away from the power generation resource, according to a report by various environmental advocacy groups.

Globally, new capacity additions in the coal fleet rose 34.1GW last year, the most since 2015, according to “Boom and Bust 2020: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline.”

The report is a joint
effort by the Sierra Club, Global Energy Monitor, Greenpeace and the Centre for
Energy and Clean Air.

The groups bemoan the
growth of coal-fired power in Asia but the authors noted that the decline
accelerated in the US and other developed nations in this last decade.

“Globally, 68.3GW of
new coal power were commissioned and 34.2GW retired in 2019, leading to a net
increase in the global coal fleet of 34.1GW,” the Boom and Bust report reads.
“Nearly two-thirds of the 68.3GW of newly commissioned capacity was
in China. Outside China, the global coal fleet overall shrank for the
second year in a row.”

Indeed, US utilities retired 16.5GW in coal-fired capacity in 2019, the second-highest number on record. Perhaps surprising, coal-fired retirements during the coal-friendly Trump era outpace those during Obama’s two terms in office, with the former averaging 13.7GW per year and an average of about 6.2GW annually in Obama’s era, according to the report.

Japan, meanwhile, is the top coal-powered nation among the most developed economies, with nearly 12GW under development domestically.

Japanese public
finance is also funding 24.7 of coal power outside the island nation’s borders,
according to the environmentalist report.

Most international
financial groups publicly have announced moves away from coal,
although many banks globally are still financing projects.

Overall, the global
coal-powered fleet fell 3% in 2019 compared to the previous year, with the
highest drop in the European Union (minus 24%), the US (-16%) and even a
three-per cent drop in relatively coal-friendly and electricity-deficient
India.

The global utilisation
rate of coal-fired power dropped to a record low of 51%, according to Boom and
Bust’s statistics incorporating numerous reports.

Babalwa Bungane is a content creator/editor for ESI Africa - Clarion Events Africa. Babalwa has been writing for the publication for five years. She has a great interest in social media due to its advantage of disseminating content.